New FedEx distribution center
The South Brunswick Planning Board approved what will soon become a new Federal Express distribution center last week.
The owner of the property, Matrix Development Group, will now begin construction on a 213,000-square-foot distribution center for the delivery company. Currently, the property is the site of a small office building that will be demolished when the tenant’s lease runs out in 2011, which will prompt Phase II of the development, adding 52,000 additional square feet of space.
An application for a 407,400-square-foot warehouse on the tract was approved in July. The plan proposed last week will shrink the already approved warehouse by almost 200,000 square feet to meet FedEx’s needs.
A principal with Matrix, Kenneth Griffin, said that after approval, the company began seeking tenants for the building and eventually struck a deal with FedEx. The delivery company needed a new distribution facility, which has different design needs than an ordinary warehouse, and plans for a new application were created. Griffin said the location was ideal for the company due to its proximity of Exit 8A on the New Jersey Turnpike.
In the first phase, the facility will employ 344 people, 111 of which will be van drivers. The second phase will bring 183 extra employees. The building will use porous pavement in a little less than 10 percent of its employee parking lot in order to control stormwater.
